The Wallabies have fallen to a humiliating Rugby Championship defeat against Argentina, giving up the most points in their history in a shock 67-27 loss in Santa Fe. Despite leading 20-3 early, a second half implosion saw Australia leak 64 points to Los Pumas and sink to a defeat that, while not quite rivalling their 53–8 to South Africa in Johannesburg in 2009, will nonetheless leave new coach Joe Schmidt fuming.

Rueing the loss of key front-rowers Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou in the second half, Schmidt admitted his side “fell off a cliff” as the Argentinians ran in nine hot tries, showing the slick play that shocked New Zealand in the TRC’s opening round. A heavy reckoning must now follow as a shattered Wallabies squad tries to pick up the pieces before the Bledisloe Cup series against New Zealand starts on 21 September.

The 40-point shellacking is all the more remarkable for Australia’s early dominance. Jeremy Williams took the first kick of the game with a spectacular mark that AFL player Isaac Heeney would’ve killed for and Harry Wilson, in his second Test as captain, was leading the gold rush down the middle as winger Max Jorgensen cut Argentina open on the edges.

After both teams traded penalties, Australia shot to a 10-3 lead when Carlo Tizzano cashed in on a Ben Donaldson linebreak and an Angus Bell surge to the line. The Wallabies made it 20-3 when Donaldson darted down the short side and quick hands found Jorgensen who put Andrew Kellaway over for a second try inside 30 minutes.

But that was as good as it got for the men in gold. After 20 straight points for the visitors, Argentina answered with 14 of their own, tries by Carreras and Montoya, in his 100th Test, bringing the halftime scoreline back to 20-17. Up to that point, honours were even, with a 50% split in possession between the sides despite Australia’s dominance.

It was all Los Pumas from there as the ominously named Brigadier General Estanislao López Stadium, popularly known as The Elephant Graveyard, rode a wave of home side tries that showed the chasm between sides ranked sixth and eighth in the world. Dominant off the back of the scrum, Argentina quickly began to boss every collision and Australia’s set-piece, superb to that point, unravelled as Bell and Tupou departed.

The trickle of comeback points quickly became a torrent. Matera scored, then Albornoz, and then Oviedo as Australia watched their 17-point lead transform into a monstrous 21-point deficit. In the final 10 minutes, Los Pumas accelerated even further in front, scoring four tries with fast hands, energy and enterprise.

Australia completely fell apart, with only a solo try by replacement half Tate McDermott slowing the onslaught. Argentina hit fifty with ease, then sixty at a canter and were scoring at will, with Oviedo and Mallia each notching a double, when the siren rang on a remarkable 64-7 point turnaround in the final 50 minutes of the Test.

“There were aspects of it that were really good,” said a shellshocked Schmidt afterward. “Obviously, to lead a Test match 20-3 and get run down in the manner which we did is really disappointing. We cannot let a game get away from us like it did and fall off a cliff.

“We lost connection in our defensive line. We were forever chasing them. We didn’t put enough pressure on at the breakdown, so they were operating off lightning quick ball, and it’s just too difficult to keep chasing a team on a hot day when they’ve got the ball and going forward.”

Schmidt must now try to rebuild his shattered squad for the Bledisloe Cup starting in a fortnight. The chance to win back-to-back away Tests from home has been squandered as has the opportunity to rise to second place on the Rugby Championship ladder. The angry black mass that is the All Blacks now looms large and lethal on the horizon.